1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to human/computer interfaces on portable devices such as PDA's and other similar telecommunication systems, to provide portable software systems intended for rehabilitation by means of color therapy.
2. Prior Art
Prior art is divided into three primary categories, diagnostic tools, rehabilitation treatment methods, and previously designed light therapy treatment methods.
The first area of prior art is the manner of diagnostic tools used in the development of wave-front color therapy in conjunction with therapeutic prescriptions. To date, color therapy in conjunction with therapeutic prescription use has been a manual, often tedious process not capable of pinpointing the precise nanometer of a color's wavelength best suited for the patient's use.
The second area of prior art is the manner of rehabilitation treatment methods for neurological impairments such as stroke, brain injury, CVA, and MS to name several, and learning disabilities such as Attention Deficit Disorder, and ADHD.
There is a host of computer based, non-portable, dumb-terminal rehabilitation systems used within the structure of cognitive, vision and learning disability rehabilitations. They are geared at re-training the impaired or injured neurological processes.
Unfortunately, there are two basic shortcomings to the conventional approach of neurological rehabilitations. These machines are only available to the rehabilitation facility due to cost and size and are therefore not available for private patient consumer use. This limits the amount of time a patient can spend using these rehabilitation tools due to a number of factors, as set forth below.
First, a patient who is a candidate for neurological rehabilitation is often also attending physical and occupational therapies, recovering from surgeries or other treatments and procedures associated with their neurological assault. During the time crucial window of cognitive and visual rehabilitation, a patient's day is consumed with therapies and doctors visits, often leaving the time that can be spent on cognitive rehabilitation shortchanged or even completely neglected.
Second, the neurologically impaired patient's rehabilitation is also subject to the schedules of their caretakers as they are often unable to transport themselves, inclement weather, flare-up of injuries, or office scheduling conflicts.
Despite the enormous amount of time devoted to the rehabilitation process involving doctors and rehabilitation specialists, a patient spends a great deal of time waiting in medical waiting rooms, waiting for transportation between appointments, and at the end of the day, is often too exhausted to attend to cognitive rehabilitation and the associated exercises. This time can be recaptured with a portable rehabilitation device to make best use of spare time to become rehabilitation time.
A patient who does not face the aforementioned problems can also use this device to maximize their rehabilitation, reducing rehabilitation expense while making best use of the window of maximum rehabilitative progress.
Third, a fundamental problem in the conventional approach is that is does not fully take into account the need of the learning impaired student.
A learning impaired student is paired with a learning specialist during school hours, which either robs time from their education or uses their break periods, leaving an already overworked student without a break during the day. The second approach is to team a student with a learning specialist after school, taking time away from homework and putting a student further behind in their work.
Any adaptive technology devices that a mainstreamed student may be offered might not be available in all schools, and a student may often be embarrassed to use them in front of others students who may perceive a learning disability as a lack of intelligence on the part of the disabled student. Fear of such a perception may render a student reluctant or too embarrassed to use the adaptive tech tools designed to help them.
Color Therapy has long been used medically. Color, or Light Therapy is used for a number of purposes, including, Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD), dermatological purposes, cosmetic enhancement, as well as for Syntonic Optometry. The latter has been used for the past 70 years for treatment of several optometric disorders. Recently, it has been shown to be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries, Cerebro-vascular accidents (CVA), and other neurological disorders.
There are, however, several failings of the treatments and therapies developed to date:                1) White light machines.        Many light machines emit full spectrum white light, not specific and finite wavelengths.        There are multiple benefits to being able to isolate a finite wavelength, as in the case of this claimed computer program:                    a. The white light machines available today, by their very nature, emit all wavelengths in the visible spectrum. For as therapeutic as certain wavelengths of color can be to a patient, another wavelength could be harmful or uncomfortable, and there is no way to omit the uncomfortable or harmful wavelengths from a white-light machine and only use the helpful ones for therapy.            b. Many patients who suffer neurological problems suffer from photophobia, or sensitivity to light and glare. While some white light machines have a dimmer, this may not reduce brightness and glare enough for the patient and cause discomfort, and would not be therapeutic.            c. Since all colors are emitted from a white light machine, it is impossible to determine what wavelengths could be most helpful to the patient. In contrast, this computer program can isolate the exact wavelength of color that is beneficial to the patient.            d. White light machines often require extended periods of time per day to receive therapeutic benefit. By this program isolating to the most therapeutic range of wavelengths, the patient will receive the most precise diagnosis and the best therapy for their specific disorder in the shortest amount of time. This is essential as there is a limited window of time after neurological injury or onset of a neurological illness that a patient has to capture the majority of recovery they will make—thus, time is of the essence.                        2) Methods of color therapy developed to date that isolate certain color spectrums are generally unable to provide the diagnostic benefits of the computer program claimed herein due to their inability to produce the scope of colors necessary. In addition, they also lack certain elements of the ideal color manipulation therapy. One such example is the use of lasers and radiation of certain colors on the eye, with the obvious side effects associated with lasers and radiation. Other methods of light therapy involve physically dangerous illumination apparatuses such as gas or flame, which are dangerous and prohibit unattended or at home use due to their very nature. None of these factors are an issue with the current claimed invention.        